Looking to be a standout, indispensable employee at your workplace? Having a job that you enjoy is great, but feeling secure and needed at the company you work for is just as important. It’s a common, ambitious goal to get to a point where your employer feels as if they can’t operate without you, and here are some tips on how to get there.
Focus on positivity and personal connections.
If you want to be irreplaceable at work, focus on your attitude and connections with your co-workers. Your employer will want to keep you around if you continuously boost the morale in the office with your contagious, positive attitude. Talk to co-workers more in person rather than emailing. Prove you are reliable and cover for team members while they are out of the office. Suggest solutions instead of pointing out problems. Do whatever you can to make good connections with the people you work with. Your employer can probably train someone else to do your job, but they can’t replace a team that works well together.
Be open to change.
Flexibility is essential to survive constant change. Whether the company is going through process improvement, or simply a change in software, it’s important that you are open to change and know how to handle it. The best way to prepare yourself for these changes is to find ways to continuously update your skills and enhance your industry knowledge. Attend networking events to learn what other people in the industry are doing, or take a class to learn/improve a skill. Employers admire employees who are in the know of current trends, or even a step ahead of the times. If you are prepared and open for the changes that could affect your role, you will be a hard employee to replace.
Work Hard(er)
It’s common sense that you should do your assigned work at your job, but there is a difference between getting the job done and working hard. Employees who do the bare minimum and wait around for work to be given to them are replaceable. Be the employee who maximizes your time at the office and asks for extra work when you’re finished with your own workload. This will naturally make you stand out as a hard worker, but will eventually make you one of the go-to employees that the organization relies on.
Don’t overlook the basics!
Basic soft skills aren’t out of style! Employees tend to get comfortable in their roles and forget that timeliness, resourcefulness, organization, and reliability always matter. Showing up on time, keeping your word and meeting project deadlines, and having the ambition to try and figure something out on your own before asking for help are simple everyday skills that should never get old. The workers who continue to master these soft skills at all stages of their career are one step closer to becoming irreplaceable.